Living the Image

Vicki Saunders has been dressing for the prom since December. The Seventeen Magazine director of marketing development chaperones a six-month party that brings Seventeen advertisers into malls, clubs and special issues — starting with Seventeen Prom in December. “We extend our expertise on readers’ passion points, like fashion and music,” says Saunders. “Advertisers capitalize on that relationship to drive sales at retail.”

Long used to plus up ad buys, promotions took on a new urgency the last two years as ad budgets dried up; in self-defense, publishers became more sophisticated in creating promotions for advertisers. As ad spending begins to rebound, publishers continue to offer marketers new venues and promo platforms to reach consumers directly.

Marketers’ penchant for holistic marketing dovetails with magazine brands’ expansion into other media — online, cable TV, even magazine-branded retail and entertainment venues. “The strength of magazines is that they bring a recognizable brand that consumers have chosen and marketers can leverage,” says Ellen Oppenheim, executive VP-chief marketing officer of the Magazine Publishers of America.

“We see 250,000 women a year who want to meet Seventeen, the brand,” says Linda Platzner, president-group publisher of Seventeen (which is owned by PROMO parent Primedia). “That moves retail. We’ve seen up to a 400-percent boost for retail sales.”

At the same time, the numbers for print ad sales have been far grimmer. Total magazine ad revenue rose only 3.3 percent to $15.14 billion in 2002 through November, and total ad pages were down 4.5 percent, reports the Publishers Information Bureau. That follows a dismal 2001, when revenues were down 4.9 percent to $16.21 billion and ad pages down 11.7 percent, PIB reports. “As ad spending fell, promotion became more crucial,” says Erick Neher, executive director of marketing for the Hearst Group, New York City. “Some clients have always focused on merchandising events and promotions; others, not at all.”

The tide may turn this year. November ad sales rose 12.6 percent over November 2001 to $1.76 billion, PIB reports. Total ad pages rose nearly seven percent for that month, the most recent available. Advertisers spent an estimated $750 million to $1.2 billion more in 2002 on promotions via publishers’ marketing departments. Apparel, automotive and cosmetics have historically driven off-page activities, but packaged goods companies have started doing more the last two years.

That’s a shift from the typical CPG tack of negotiating hard for discounts, then pocketing the savings rather than investing in promos. Credit CPGs’ growing appetite for in-market events, and two kinds of expansion: Mass merchandisers give packaged goods a national stage to match a magazine’s national reach, and magazines themselves have added other outlets. “Now there are more options available as magazine brands extend into other media,” says Oppenheim.

Good campaigns coordinate several media. Take Lincoln Mercury’s New Cultural Icons campaign via Hearst. Irvine, CA-based Lincoln wanted to woo younger consumers and reposition the brand as artistic and hip. Hearst’s marketing team suggested Lincoln associate with emerging leaders in film, literature, music, art, theatre, fashion and food. Hearst produced a 48-page magazine, New Cultural Icons, to polybag with seven Hearst titles (3.5 million issues in all) for subscribers as well as hand-raisers in Lincoln’s database. Then A&E — which is partly owned by Hearst — ran a week of Biography specials on cultural icons of its own choosing, sponsored by Lincoln and hosted by Hearst’s cover girl, actress Chloe Sevigny. Lincoln hosted New Cultural Icon Evenings in Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles, feting local celebs with film screenings, food tastings and gallery displays. In all, 3,000 partygoers were picked from Lincoln’s database and Hearst’s subscription lists. Lincoln displayed its 2003 Lincoln LS and Navigator models (with doors open) in addition to extensive signage and a branded program for the parties.

Finally, the magazines and Biography.com hosted a sweeps awarding a grand-prize two-year lease on a Lincoln, a first-prize trip to New York City, and six prizes provided by participating magazines — Esquire offered a case of wine chosen by its food and wine editor, Harper’s Bazaar gave a consultation with its fashion editor. Sweeps entrants voted for their fave icon; each vote doubled as an entry. Top vote-getters were featured in December issues, a neat wrap-up to the six-month campaign. Hearst’s New York City-based marketing staff worked with Lincoln’s media-buying agency, Irvine-based MediaEdg:cia (owned by Young & Rubicam).

MediaEdg:cia sent an RFP to all major publishers and TV networks in April 2001. Hearst’s idea won; the publisher and MediaEdg:cia worked with Lincoln Mercury Marketing Communications Manager Ann Kalass and Marketing & Events Manager Bob Witter to set details. Timed for Navigator’s launch, New Cultural Icons served as Navigator xxx print and cable TV presence from launch through the end of calendar year 2002, says Cynthia Jensen, Mediaedge:cia VP-director of brand alliances. “These partnerships allow differentiation for Lincoln Mercury in a crowded marketplace. They also help consumers to understand and connect with our brands.”

Hearst’s seven-person corporate marketing staff executes about 20 big projects and another 30 smaller, traditional merchandising efforts each year. The team serves the hundred or so marketers that spend at least $1 million across three or more Hearst titles. “We become a promotion agency for them and create programs that build on our magazines and relationships with retailers,” says Neher.

Hearst keeps raising its $1 million spending threshold to give special attention to top clients as many advertisers fragment their buys. Concentrating on top-spenders lets Hearst proactively pitch campaigns before they’re even budgeted. “We want to be ahead of an RFP and give [marketers] something before they know they want it,” says Neher. “We can do that because this is a group of advertisers we know inside and out.” Hearst gets a heads-up on new products a year or two before launch, and pitches ideas “before they’re even budgeted,” says Neher. Getting in the budget cements advertisers’ commitments, and protects budgets from fluctuations.

Seventeen‘s 30-member staff executes about 250 events and 200 advertorial pages a year. “These are young women who grew up at Seventeen and love to represent the magazine,” says Platzner. Annual highlights include a fall back-to-school Trend Tour and the 10-year-old New Star Showcase Event concert, sponsored in November by Entertainment Tonight, whose 10-page advertorial was shot on the ET set with anchor Maria Menounos, who also hosted the concert. Sears’ overlay, a Steal Your Spotlight contest, judged videos submitted by Seventeen readers; winners danced on-stage during the show. Concertgoers got goodie bags with advertisers’ samples. The magazine has run prom campaigns for 14 years (see sidebar).

Seventeen has spent two years helping J.C. Penney pitch itself to teens as a cool shopping destination. Seasonal advertorials (prom, back-to-school and holiday) tied in with fashion shows, sweepstakes, and online coverage. Fashion shows — a Seventeen staple for decades — started with a model call hosted by a Seventeen merchandising editor, with gift-with-purchase deals for would-be models. Those chosen walked the runway in Penney fashions; attendees got makeovers and goodie bags, funded by Penney vendors. Sweeps gave prizes such as Diva for a Day star treatments for three friends at a concert. Winners were profiled in Seventeen and, once, via a Penney Webcast at seventeen.com. The 18-month effort boosted Penney sales as much as 430 percent.

“Working with Seventeen gives us a cool, hip factor,” says George Beck, marketing specialist for Plano, TX-based Penney. The 1,061-store chain recently centralized marketing and uses magazine-based events to leverage its national scale. Its third Rock Your Prom campaign uses the music, fashion show, and sweeps formula to drive traffic.

“It’s great for traffic when you tie in with a band that girls recognize,” says Beck. “It really gets girls into the prom department. And our junior sportswear sales have been on fire these last three years.”

Seventeen‘s custom program for Wal-Mart goes into its third year after a 2001 and ‘02 sales boost. The Trend*Alert from Wal-Mart and Seventeen brings in-store events (four times a year) to a handful of Wal-Mart stores, with fashion shows, makeovers, and sample bags; videos highlighting hot items run in all stores on Wal-Mart’s in-store network, hosted by a Seventeen editor and updated seasonally. Quarterly advertorials and ongoing online coverage showcase music (via partner Sony/Epic Records), clothes, electronics, and cosmetics. A Trend*Alert newsletter gets Seventeen secondary shelf space in Wal-Mart’s juniors department, with rack-toppers that hold the newsletter and magazines. Trend*Alert “juxtaposed our two brands to help create a relevant environment and destination for teens in Wal-Mart,” says Saunders.

Cosmetics brand Chanel hosts contests that link Seventeen readers to its brand. This spring’s New Model of the Year contest awards a Paris photo shoot for Seventeen‘s September issue, $1,000 shopping spree, and six-month contract with Ford modeling agency. Eight finalists travel to New York City for a photo shoot to pick the winner. Chanel’s Colour of the Year contest wraps up this month as the magazine announces the winner of the annual color-design contest. Editors play an important role in the prize pool. Their presence — as contest judges or event hosts — extends the credibility of the magazine. “Magazines have an authoritative image,” says MPA’s Oppenheim. “They are the most trusted of all media, and are considered leading authorities in their fields.”

Chrysler tapped Elle (published by Hachette Filipacchi Media) for a Driven by Design sweeps that asked readers to design a “weekend driving accessory” (a hat fit for a convertible, or a handbag that holds a weekend’s worth of clothes). Readers voted in December on three finalists chosen by Elle editors; the top vote-getter will be produced for boutiques. Each vote doubled as an entry to win the first accessory made, an outfit from the designer and a goody bag from Elle.

Promos can be the tiebreaker on ad buys. Hearst won all of Beiersdorf’s print ad dollars for its Nivea for Men launch with an in-book, online, and on-air (via Lifetime) sweeps awarding a spa trip for two, cash, and Nivea gift baskets. The effort breaks in March issues of Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Marie Claire and Esquire. FCB, New York City, handles Nivea.

Promotions — especially events — suit publishers, too, as they look to build a magazine brand outside the pages. GQ publisher Conde Nast broke new ground with the GQ Lounge last year, renting out clubs in Los Angeles (February) and New York City (September) to let readers party with advertisers including Cadillac, Coca-Cola, electronics brand JBL, Procter & Gamble’s Old Spice, Reebok and a slate of liquor brands.

Seventeen has its own real estate, a club in Los Angeles, and a spa in Dallas, and is mulling more. “We opened them to bring the magazine to life,” says Platzner. “We want to be every single place young women are.” The year-old Club One Seven serves the 16-to-21 crowd, with a huge dance floor-cum-runway, DJ booth, giant video screens, and high-tech lighting and sound systems. The club is in the Hollywood & Highland mall, next door to the Seventeen Boutique. It’s open Saturday nights with a $20 cover charge, and rents for private parties on Fridays. MTV, KIIS-FM and Motorola’s Boost Mobile pre-paid cell phones sponsor the club. Coca-Cola sponsors an evening serving free Coke; Dr Pepper/Seven UP Co. sampled Dr Pepper Red Fusion at the Fox Teen Choice Awards pre-party. Procter & Gamble’s Pantene wrapped up its Pantene Pro-Voice talent search when the winning band played at Club One Seven. Matrix, Glow by JLo and Shiesedo have hosted promo nights with sampling, signage and door prizes.

The eight-month-old Seventeen Studio-Spa-Salon in Plano, TX, has a full-service spa for hair, nails, and skin care, a retail store selling licensed products, a cyber café, and interactive kiosks. Department store Dillard’s hosted a fashion show at the spa’s grand-opening, and Jane Cosmetics, Rembrandt and Biore Strips have all sampled at the spa. Seventeen is mulling program extensions for this year.

The venues “have been incredibly successful, but we don’t want to dilute the brand” with too many, says Saunders. “We don’t want it to become like a theme restaurant.”

Adds Oppenheim: “Clubs are as much about brand extension [for the magazine] as for advertisers.” Clubs also foster closer interaction with readers, which gives publishers (and marketers) even more insight on consumer attitudes and trends. Readers already tell their fave magazines a lot about themselves, via letters to the editor, questionnaires, and research panels. “Magazines, more than any other media, know who their consumers are, so they can develop strong promotional partnerships” to woo their audience, says Oppenheim. They also offer research tools for marketers. Seventeen has an online panel of 12,000 “trend casters” who act as focus groups for advertisers and give feedback on Seventeen‘s promo plans. Most of Hearst’s books have a reader panel to consult via direct mail or e-mail.

Readers make a natural target audience, since they converge around their topics of choice. That gives marketers a lot of conversation starters, from music or food to skincare or cars.

Even a prom dress turns heads.

Prom Dates

Seventeen goes with a group to the prom. Some are steady dates, like JC Penney, now in its third year of Rock Your Prom. Mall fashion shows and concerts draw big crowds (including an average 400 would-be models), and a sweepstakes sends a popular boy band to play at the winner’s prom. This year it’s Lifehouse; last year it was LFO. “When they drew the winner, Seventeen called the principal and the winner’s parents and set up a school assembly to surprise her,” says Penney Marketing Specialist George Beck. “The electricity was unbelievable.”

Rock Your Prom is an overlay to Seventeen’s Prom Style 2003 advertorials and retail events. This year Penney hosts events in 24 markets, with fashion shows in eight. Beck asked Seventeen to make events turnkey for stores, which are too short-handed to lend staff for prom shows. “It’s been an absolute home run,” says Beck. Prom Style 2003 includes fashion shows in five markets and a special section in the March and April issues. Old Navy runs a Sweet Stuff sweepstakes awarding a shopping spree, spa treatment, and slumber party with a Seventeen merchandising editor for one winner and nine friends. (One hundred runners-up get a $10 Old Navy gift certificate.) L’Oreal USA’s Maybelline division turned an ad in Seventeen Prom into a sheet of stickers that readers use to tag pages as they browse. Each sticker reveals a Maybelline product.

Sister book Teen runs its own special issue, and gives advertisers a box of issues for P-O-P distribution two weeks before newsstand sales.

“Prom has been around forever, but it’s gotten progressively bigger and wilder,” says Seventeen group publisher Linda Platzner.